GREENLAND,

Is an extensive peninsula, or, as some geographers believe, an immense

island, lying north of the 60th degree of latitude, and between the 48th

and 70th degrees of west longitude. It is said to have been originally

discovered, as early as the tenth century, by a party of exiled

Icelanders, who gave to it the name of "Greenland," from its exhibiting

a much greater appearance of verdure than Iceland. _Cape Farewell_, its

southernmost point, is a small island divided from the shore by a narrow

inlet.

The interior of the country is dreary and mountainous; and some of the

mountains are so lofty, that they are visible to the distance of more

than forty leagues. They are covered with perpetual snow; and ice and

snow, like the glaciers of Switzerland, fill the elevated plains, and

even many of the valleys. The lowlands, adjacent to the sea-coast, are

clothed with verdure during the summer season. The coast is indented

with many bays and creeks, which extend far into the land; but many

parts of it are altogether inaccessible by shipping, on account of the

enormous masses of floating ice, which abound in the extreme northern

seas.

Christian Missionaries were settled in this country, by the Danes, many

centuries ago; and they formed churches and monasteries in different

parts, through an extent of country nearly two hundred miles in length.

From authentic records it appears that Greenland was anciently divided

into two districts, the westernmost of which contained four parishes and

one hundred villages; and the other, twelve parishes, one hundred and

twenty villages, the see of a bishop, and two monasteries. The present

inhabitants of the western districts are, however, separated from those

of the east by impassable deserts and mountains.

This country is subject to Denmark; and the parts of it that are chiefly

visited by Danes and Norwegians, lie between the 64th and 68th degrees

of north latitude; and, to this distance, the climate is said not to be

very severe. At one time there was a Danish factory as far north as the

73d degree; but, beyond the 68th degree of latitude, the cold in winter

is, in general, so intense, that even the rocks burst by the expansive

power of the frost. Thunder and lightning seldom occur in Greenland; but

the aurora borealis is frequently visible, particularly in the spring of

the year; and is often so bright and vivid, as to afford sufficient

light for a person to read by it.

Some of the southern parts of Greenland are fertile; but, in general,

the soil resembles that of other mountainous countries; the hills being

barren, and the valleys and low grounds being rich and fruitful. The

principal quadrupeds of this country are rein-deer, dogs resembling

wolves, Arctic foxes, and white or polar bears. The walrus and several

kinds of seals frequent the shores. Eagles and other birds of prey are

numerous. Whales and porpesses abound along the coasts; and the

adjacent sea and bays yield an abundance of holibut, turbot, cod,

haddocks, and other fish.

The inhabitants of Greenland are supposed to have had their origin from

the Esquimaux of Labrador, for they nearly resemble that people. They

are short, and somewhat corpulent; and have broad faces, flat noses,

thick lips, black hair, and a yellowish tawny complexion. The keenness

of the wind and the glare of the snow, render them subject to painful

disorders in the eyes: they are also afflicted with many diseases, which

tend to render them short lived. They are a quiet, orderly, and

good-humoured people; but of a cold, phlegmatic, and indolent

disposition. They never wash themselves with water, but lick their

hands, and then rub their faces with them; in the same manner as a cat

washes herself with her paws. In most of their habits they are extremely

filthy.

When animal food can be procured, they prefer it to any other; but, in

times of scarcity, they are sometimes compelled to subsist on sea-weeds,

and on roots dressed in train-oil and fat. The intestines of animals,

and offals of various kinds, are accounted by them as dainties.

Their clothes are chiefly made of the skins of rein-deer and seals. The

men wear their hair short; and commonly hanging down from the crown of

the head on every side. The women, on the contrary, seldom cut their

hair.

The Greenlanders all speak the same language, though different dialects

prevail in different parts of the country; and so numerous are the words

of their language, that, like the Chinese, they are said to have a

proper word for every object or art that requires distinction.

These people have no traditions respecting the memorable actions of

their ancestors; further than that, many winters ago, some Norwegian

settlers were slain by the population of the adjacent country, who

unanimously rose in arms against them. Among other strange notions

entertained by the Greenlanders, they imagine that rain is occasioned by

the overflowing of reservoirs in the heavens; and they assert that, if

the banks of these reservoirs should burst, the sky would fall down. The

medical practice in this country is confined to a set of men who have

the appellation of "Angekoks," or conjurers.

When a Greenlander is at the point of death, his friends and relatives

array him in his best clothes and boots. They silently bewail him for an

hour, after which they prepare for his interment. The body, having been

sewed up in his best seal or deer-skin, is laid in the burying-place,

covered with a skin, and with green sods; and, over these, with heaps of

stones, to defend it from the attack of predaceous animals. Near the

place of interment, the survivors deposit the weapons of the deceased,

and the tools he daily used. With the women are deposited their knives

and sewing implements. The intention in so doing is, that the person

departed may not be without employment in the next world.

The Greenlanders are said to worship the sun, and to offer sacrifices to

an imaginary evil spirit, that he may not prevent their success in

hunting and fishing. They have a confused notion respecting the

immortality of the soul, and the existence of a future state; and they

believe that the spirits of deceased persons sometimes appear on the

earth, and hold communication with the "Angekoks," or conjurers, to whom

peculiar privileges and honours belong.

The traffic that is carried on among the Greenlanders is simple and

concise, and is wholly conducted by exchange or barter. These people

very rarely cheat or take undue advantage of one another; and it is

considered infamous to be guilty of theft. But they are said to glory in

over-reaching or robbing an European; as they consider this a proof of

superior talent and ingenuity.

Wherever a great assembly or rendezvous of Greenlanders takes place, as

at a dancing-match or any grand festival, there are always some persons

who expose their wares to view, and who publicly announce what goods

they want in exchange for them. The chief articles of traffic, with

Europeans, are fox and seal-skins, whale and seal-oil, whalebone, and

the horns of narwhals. For these, they receive, in exchange, iron points

for their spears, knives, saws, gimlets, chisels, needles, chests,

boxes, clothing, and utensils of various kinds.

The chief festival of the Greenlanders is that which they call the

sun-feast; but this is merely held for the purpose of dancing and other

amusements, and not for any religious acts or ceremonies. It is held

about the commencement of the new-year, and for the purpose of rejoicing

at the return of the sun, and the renewal of weather for hunting and

fishing. At this feast they assemble, in various parts of the country,

and in large parties. After gorging themselves with food, they rise up

to play and to dance. Their only musical instrument is a drum; and the

sound of this they accompany with songs, in honour of seal-catching, and

exploits in hunting. The Greenlanders do not, on these occasions,

intoxicate themselves with ardent spirits, like some of the American

Indians; for their only beverage is water. There are other

dancing-meetings held in the course of the year; but these are all

conducted in a similar manner. The Greenlanders occupy much of their

time in hunting and fishing. On shore they hunt rein-deer and other

animals; and at sea they pursue whales, seals, and walruses: they also

catch great quantities of fish and sea-fowl. Their canoes are formed of

thin boards, fastened together by the sinews of animals, and covered

with a dressed seal-skin, both above and below; so that only a circular

hole is left in the middle, large enough to admit the body of one man.

Into this hole he thrusts himself, up to the waist; after which he

fastens the skin so tight round his body, that no water can enter. Thus

secured, and armed with a paddle, which is broad at both ends, he

ventures out to sea, even in the most stormy weather; and, if he be

unfortunate enough to have his canoe overset, he can easily raise

himself by means of his paddle. Besides this description of canoes, the

Greenlanders have boats so large that they will contain fifty persons,

with all their tackle, baggage, and provisions. These carry a mast and a

triangular sail; the latter of which is made of the membranes and

entrails of seals. The management of the larger boats is always given to

women; who also perform the whole drudgery of the household, even to the

building and repairing of the dwellings.

During winter, the Greenlanders live in houses, and, during the summer,

in tents. The houses are constructed of stones, with layers of earth and

sods between them; and the rafters are covered with bushes and turf. The

entrance is through a hole in the roof, which serves also as a chimney.

The walls are hung with skins, fastened on by pegs, made of the bones of

seals. These huts are divided, by skins, into several apartments,

according to the number of families which inhabit them; and the

inhabitants sleep on skins, upon the ground. The huts are well warmed

with fires; and are lighted by lamps, filled with train oil, and

furnished with moss instead of a wick. These lamps burn so bright as to

give considerable heat as well as warmth.

At the outside of the dwelling-house are separate buildings, for

store-houses, in which the inhabitants lay up their stock of provisions,

train oil, and other useful articles. Near the store-houses they arrange

their boats, with the bottoms upward; and they hang beneath these their

hunting and fishing-tackle, and their skins. The summer-tents of the

Greenlanders are of a conical form, and are constructed of poles,

covered, both inside and out, with skins.

The seas in the vicinity of Greenland are, every year, frequented by

both European and American vessels, employed in the whale-fishery. Such

of these as enter Davis's Strait, generally resort to Disco Bay; and a

few have penetrated even still further north than this. It is stated

that, in the year 1754, a whaler, under the command of a Captain Wilson,

was conducted, on the eastern side of Greenland, as far north as to the

83d degree of latitude: the sea was clear of ice, as far as the

commander of this ship could descry; but as he did not meet with any

whales, and began to apprehend some danger from proceeding onward, he

returned; and, in the same year, another whale-fisher sailed as far

north as to 84-1/2 degrees. These are the highest northern latitudes which

any vessels have hitherto reached.